Barrier
Recognition withheld
Palestinian refugees from Syria faced the consequences of their statelessness without recognition of that legal reality in Switzerland.
Established 2026Private preview
Statelessness
Impact Award
The first international award dedicated to statelessness work: recognising measurable, impactful contributions that improve the rights, livelihoods, and inclusion of stateless people.
EditionInaugural
Presented21 March 2026
LocationMalta
FrameworkSAF(E)
2026 inaugural recipient
Ghada Alrayan
A Palestinian human rights advocate whose determined work helped secure a landmark Swiss ruling recognising Palestinian refugees from Syria as de jure stateless.
Principled, determined action can transform lived experience into lasting systemic change.
Statelessness Impact Award · 2026
Anatomy of impact
From exclusion
to precedent.
Explore why the jury recognised this work.
Winner film · 4:26
Hear the story
in Ghada’s words.
The winner explains the legal barrier, the Swiss proceedings and what recognition means in practice.
Impact, not intention
Recognition that
changes the frame.
SIA responds to a field that remains under-recognised and under-resourced. It makes overlooked achievements visible, centres stateless people’s experiences, and rewards concrete change over symbolic commitment.
Recognise
Concrete, verifiable change rather than intentions or discourse.
Centre
The lives and experiences of stateless people as the reference point.
Shift
Statelessness from a perceived niche issue to a systemic human-rights challenge.
Scale
Good practice by creating visibility, incentives and examples for action.
The inaugural field
2026 finalists
Three examples of meaningful work advancing the rights and inclusion of stateless people.
2026 winner
Ghada Alrayan
Palestinian human rights advocate affiliated with Law for Palestine. Her work helped advance recognition of Palestinian refugees from Syria as de jure stateless in Switzerland.
The inaugural ceremony
A night for
meaningful action.
The award was presented at AX Palazzo Capua in Malta on 21 March 2026, within the framework of the annual Statelessness Awareness Forum (Europe), SAF(E).
Ceremony speakers
Ghada Alrayan · Jin Dawod · Jawad Fairooz · Aleksejs Ivashuk
How the award is selected
Recipients are chosen through collective assessment by participating SAF(E) partner organisations, bringing together professional expertise and lived experience of forced displacement and statelessness.
2026 jury organisations
Collective assessment,
diverse expertise.
Right to Protection · Save My Identity · Global Statelessness Fund · ELSA the Netherlands · Statefree e.V. · Organizace pro pomoc uprchlíkům, z.s. · Italiani Senza Cittadinanza · SALAM DHR · Apatride Network
From recognition to direction
Make impact visible.
The inaugural edition was Europe-regional. The SAF(E) partnership will revisit the scope of future editions, with an ambition to expand globally.